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Frank Sinatra will be coming home from the rescue later this week (he needs to be neutered first), and I am super excited. I thought I was 100% prepared, but after going to the shelter to pick him out of the lineup, I realized one thing: holy crap, Jersey Woolies are HAIRY!!

I know that I mentioned this on my thread in the Welcome forum, but despite my gobs of research and my hours of time spent google image searching eleventy billion photos of woolies, I still had NO realistic concept of exactly how hairy they really are!

I also didn’t realize that you could pluck them the way you can the other angoras; I thought they just had long hair! As soon as I ran my hands through his fur and saw the dense undercoat he had, I came home and immediately googled “jersey wooly” and “plucking”, and BLAMMO, there were a few links from people talking about plucking their woolies. I’m surprised that I didn’t run across the info during my research beforehand, but I guess plucking isn’t talked about as often with the woolies, since they’re so much smaller?

Anyway, so my question is, what is the best type of brush to use on that fantastical coat of his? Now that I know that woolies can be plucked, I’d like to harvest the fibers that I get from him (although it’ll probably take me forever to harvest enough to actually spin/knit anything).

I bought the Hairbuster comb from the Binkybunny store about a month ago, when I first started collecting supplies. Is that good enough, or is there a better brush geared towards angoras?

Sarita(Dallas)

Forum Leader

18235 posts

10/09/2012 11:23 AM

Yes, Jersey Woolies are super furry :~) I would get one of those metal combs to brush them as their fur can really tangle. Brushes just don't seem adequate to keep the fine fur of angoras and woolies properly groomed - they seem more superficial than a comb is.

I think the Hairbuster could definitely work.

ToadyNSW, Australia

186 posts

10/09/2012 11:53 AM

I suggest a slicker brush and a normal dog comb, I have both that I got for use on Ash but will be using it on Loki, although the comb is just as good for brushing and getting rid of mats. As for plucking you'll know when they shed their coat cause it'll come out really easily and have a container nearby so you can put the fluff into it.

RaspberryTarts

11 posts

10/16/2012 1:47 PM

Holy crap. Finally got Sinatra home yesterday, and I sat down with him today to do some brushing.

I CAN NOT believe the amount of hair that came off of him....and I'm not even halfway done. Actually, I'm not even a quarter of the way done; I barely even cleared a small patch on his back! I stopped after about 35 minutes, because i didn't want to overwhelm him or make his little body sore by combing non-stop. I obviously brought him home at the tail end of his shedding cycle. What an introduction into the world of angora breeds!

When I comb him, I'm putting the comb into the base of his hair by his skin, and slowly pulling it through, gently but firmly, all the way to the end. The hair is just sliding out of him. I've noticed, though, that in some areas that I've already plucked, I can see bald skin patches. I know that I'm not pulling hard enough to be ripping out hair that is not already in the processing of shedding out, but is it normal for there to be itty-bitty bald patches as you pluck them?

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